ASC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | FLORA AKINGBADE & MICAYLA MIKULSKI INTERVIEW

LONGVIEW – Cassi Rozanski wore a smile symbolic of what this time of year is all about.

Of course, the LeTourneau University women's basketball coach didn't have to force those pearly whites to beam through. It comes natural after a turnaround season landed the YellowJackets in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament.

"Winning is fun, but I'm just really happy for these girls," Rozanski said. "They have bought in to what we're trying to do, every step of the way, and I'm just happy for them, and hope that they're proud of themselves."

LeTourneau (14-11) meets Hardin-Simmons (19-6) in the ASC quarterfinals 5 p.m. Thursday at the University of Texas at Dallas. The tournament runs through Saturday's championship game.

"We're going to have to play some of our best basketball," Rozanski said after guiding the Jackets into their first postseason in three years. "Winning isn't easy, especially in our conference with the number of good, top-ranked teams that we have. You have to enjoy the wins. We've talked about that a little bit, but also, never being satisfied. Yes, we've done some good things this year … but we can't be satisfied."

The Jackets lost to Hardin-Simmons in the regular season, 78-65, in a game Keauna Whitfield scored a season-high 29 points, and Malacia Guy added 11. Following that game, the YellowJackets won five of their next six. They finished the regular season, winning four of five.

"There's still room for improvement, but I'm glad where we are right now," LETU center Flora Akingbade said, coming off a game she had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Akingbade ranks fifth in the conference in rebounding at 7.6 boards per game. The YellowJackets finished the regular season first in offensive rebounds – a focal point they need to revisit in Richardson. LETU outrebounded HSU by two the first time they met. They finished the season with five straight games winning the rebound battle – the last two by a combined 18.5 more boards than their opponent.

"I do plan on rebounding as much as I can," Akingbade said, "just going with the flow."

This team has gone with the flow all season long, learning from their lumps to become better for the long haul. Now it's time to lay it on the line as long as they can to extend their season.

"Thursday comes, and we've got to pick it up another notch, and, you know, make some noise and get some wins," sophomore guard Micayla Mikulski said.

Mikulski finished the regular season in double figures three of the final four games. She averaged 12 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Whitfield has been in double figures 17 of the last 18 games, and is second on the team in rebounds at 6.9. Scruffy Hopkins' 5.9 boards per game is third.

In many ways, the theme of this team has been all about the rebound. The Jackets rebounded from past postseason success that outdates Rozanski's tenure. And they've been one of the nation's better board battlers, what with their 18.2 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks 11^th in the country.

You think rebounding is just an overused part of the game that gets quickly brushed aside? Try telling that to the coach.

"Well, it's going to be huge," Rozanski said. "Hardin-Simmons is big, they have some really good rebounders. If we don't rebound the ball, we're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Of course, the YellowJackets have been known to put their opponents in troublesome situations, what with their pressure defense that, at least in the early part of the season when they employed it more, caused havoc. LeTourneau forced the opposition to turn the ball over an average of 19 times per game. In the last four games, opponents have coughed it up an average of 13.5 times.

Is a return to a more high-pressure up-tempo defense the key?

"I just approach each game just knowing that we've got to dominate either way, whether it's points, rebounds, assists," Akingbade said. "We've got to dominate somehow."

LETU beat HSU in the ASC quarterfinals in 2016, but no member of the YellowJackets was a part of that. That just means it's time to create their own history.

"We've really changed what this program has done in the past," Mikulski said. "And we've made something really great out of it this first year together."